June 23, 2009

Founded in 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a military alliance of member nations that agree to mutual defense in response to attack upon one or all members. To mark NATO’s 60th anniversary, the Law Library of Congress will host a panel discussion on the legal challenges facing NATO today.

The program, which is sponsored jointly with the Inter-University Center for Terrorism Studies, will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. on Thursday, July 9 in the Montpelier Room, located on the sixth floor of the Library’s James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C. The event is free and open to the public but seating is limited. Advance reservations are recommended (Barbara Moore, 202-707-9834, bmoo@loc.gov).

The panel will discuss NATO’s expansion in Eastern Europe, its training mission in Afghanistan and its anti-piracy operations off the coastline of Somalia.

Panelists include Richard L. Prosen, a senior foreign-policy professional with more than 20 years’ experience in increasingly responsible national-security positions; Peter Roudik, formerly a legal adviser to the Russian Parliament and currently assistant director of legal research in the Law Library of Congress; and Maj. Gen. Melvin G. Spiese, U.S. Marine Corps Training and Education Command.

Established in 1994, the International Center for Terrorism Studies (ICTS) is an independent, nonprofit research institute associated with the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies (www.potomacinstitute.org/).

Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution. The Library seeks to spark imagination and creativity and to further human understanding and wisdom by providing access to knowledge through its magnificent collections, programs and exhibitions. Many of the Library’s rich resources can be accessed through its Web site at www.loc.gov and via interactive exhibitions on a new, personalized website at myLOC.gov.

Founded in 1832, the mission of the Law Library is to make its resources available to members of Congress, the Supreme Court, other branches of the U.S. Government and the global legal community, and to sustain and preserve a universal collection of law for future generations. With more than 2.6 million volumes, the Law Library contains the world’s largest collection of law books and other resources from all countries and provides online databases and guides to legal information worldwide through its website at www.loc.gov/law/.